Display supports



Dec. 1966 H. BURMEISTER 3,289,994

DISPLAY SUPPORTS Filed May 16, 1966 =4 14 2/ I I 26 9 4 v Mi I F/ 7 f IINVENTOR. m HENRY BURME/STER n 'fi MaiA,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,289,994 DISPLAY SUPPORTS HenryBurmeister, 5915 Boulevard E., West New York, NJ. Filed May 16, 1966,Ser. No. 550,252 4 (Ilaiins. (Cl. 248-225) This invention relates todisplay supports of the type where a hanger may be selectively engagedin two spaced holes in an upright panel having multiple rows and columnsof such holes all of which are both vertically and horizontallyequidistant. Such supports usually have hook-like members provided withelongated shanks from which merchandise is suspended for display.

A common disadvantage of such supports or hangers is that in lifting oneout of the panel at least the hook must be raised so high that thehanger next above the one being removed, or at least the merchandisesuspended therefrom, is disturbed by providing an obstacle in the pathalong which the lower hanger must be moved. It is therefore an object ofthe present invention to provide a new and improved display supportwhereby any support may readily be lifted from the panel withoutdisturbing any other support on the panel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of new and usefulimprovements in display support of the kind mentioned, whereby theirpracticability and utility are enhanced and their cost of manufacture isreduced.

The above as well as additional objects will be clarified in thefollowing description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numberedparts on the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing isintended primarily for the purpose of illustration so that it is neitherdesired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all ofthe details shown or described except as they may be deemed essential tothe invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a typical panelprovided with a multiple of holes for securement of hangers or supportsthereto; this view is reduced relative to the remaining figures of thedrawing.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the display support of the presentinvention in one form thereof.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a panel similar to that of FIG. 1,showing two supports embodying the present invention attached thereto,one above the other, and illustrating in phantom how the hook member maybe removed from the lower support without disturbing the hook member ofthe upper support; this view is part ly in section.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the panel board wholly insection and a modified construction whereby a shelf bracket is provided,which also possesses the characteristic that it may be lifted out of thepanel without disturbing a hook hanger such as shown in the other vieWS,which may be positioned above it, or even a second shelf bracket.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the support in each case is formedof two separable parts, that is, a base member adapted to be attached tothe panel and a hanger member removably mounted in the base member.

In FIGS. 1-4 the base member is shown to be a unitary structure stampedout of a flat sheet of metal in a Single operation. This member consistsof an upright body portion 11 having a tongue 12, cut out of the upperportion of the flat metal pattern and deformed outward at right anglesto the body 11. A lip 13 of the same dimensions as the tongue 12 isdeformed outward by bending the lower end of the pattern also at rightangles to the body 11. The two strips remaining in the upper 3,289,994Patented Dec. 6, 1966 portion of the pattern after the tongue 12 hasbeen cut out, are deformed in a rearward and upward direction to provideL-shaped fingers adapted to be inserted in the usual manner into twohorizontally adjacent holes 14 of an upright panel 15 in the usual andwell known manner; these fingers are shown at 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, the body 11 has a depth and width such that, when itis attached to the panel it occupies an area of the panel approximatelyequal to that defined by four holes 14.

A square hole 17 is provided through the lip 13 of an area very closelyequal to the cross-sectional area of the vertical rear end of a hookmember 19, shown at 20; this hook member has a square cross-sectionthroughout its length. Directly above the hole a rectangular hole 18 isprovided in the tongue 12. The two holes 17 and 18 both have the samewidth and their front edges lie in a common vertical plane, but theupper hole 18 has a greater length, that is, in a direction toward thefingers 16, by a small amount, as is seen in FIGS. 2-4.

It is from the hook member 19, when its end 20 registers in both holes18 and 17, as shown, that the merchandise is suspended. It is apparentthat the weight of the hook member urges the upper end of the portion 20thereof into contact with the front edge of the top hoIe 18. If bothholes 17 and 18 had the same dimensions, in order to lift the member 19clear of the base member 10 it would be necessary to raise the member 19a distance above the tongue 12 equal to the length of the end portion20. Ordinarily, as is obvious in FIG. 4, this would be impeded by thenext above support, thus disturbing the latter. If the attempt were madeto lift the entire support including the base 10 and the book 19 as aunit, turning the same counter-clockwise, FIG. 4, would obviously causethe hook 19 to encounter the hook directly above it.

By providing the upper hole 18 with a rearward elongation, as described,the hook 19 may be readily removed from' the base 10 by raising it onlya small distance sufficient to clear the lower extremity of the end 20from the lip 13 and then tilting it clockwise, as indicated in twosuccessive positions of the hook shown in phantom, at 19a and 1912. Inthe latter position the hook is clear of the upper tongue 12 and may bemoved outward from the panel without disturbing the hook above it.

In the modification shown in FIG. 5, wherein parts of the support whichare identical to those previously described bear the same referencenumeral followed by the sufiix a, the base 21 has its body portion 22substantially elongated. The tongue 23, however, differs from the tongue12 in that the square hole 24 therethrough has the same dimensions asthe hole 17a. The hook member 25, which is otherwise equivalent to themember 19, is shown extending outward at right angles to the verticalrear end portion 26 which is substantially shorter than the equivalentportion 20 of FIGS. 3 and 4. Additionally, an inclined brace 26a has oneend deformed into parallelity with the member 25 and welded thereto at27, while its other end is deformed, as shown at 28, into alignment withthe end 26 of member 25. Although not specifically so shown, bothmembers 25 and 26a are also square in cross-section, complementary tothe square holes 17:: and 24. Since this construction, wherein onebracket of a shelf support is provided, has each vertical rear endsupporting the bracket by registering in its corresponding hole, it needbe lifted only a short distance into the position shown in phantom, towithdraw it forward and hence without disturbing the bracket or supportimmediately above it, not shown.

Both modifications shown in FIGS. 1-4 and FIG. 5 are simple andinexpensive to manufacture as they may both G be produced in a singleautomatic machine operation out of a blank pattern, as is obvious.

Although the term rectangular in the foregoing description has beenapplied only to the hole 18 in the tongue 12, thereby using the term inwhat may be considered its colloquial sense to distinguish it from theterm square, in its more specific sense a square is also rectangular, ora limited form of a rectangle. It is in the latter sense that the termrectangular is used in the appended claims.

Also in the foregoing emphasis has been placed on the removability ofthe hangers 19 and 25, 26 without disturbing the hangers or merchandisesupported above them. It is of course obvious that the hangers may alsobe put back into their support bases without disturbing the merchandiseor hangers positioned above them.

I claim:

1. A support adapted to be mounted on an upright panel having amultiplicity of equidistantly horizontally and vertically spaced rowsand columns of holes therethrough, said support consisting of a base anda separable forwardly extending hanger member, said base comprising aflat vertical body adapted to lie flush against the front surface ofsaid panel, said body having L-shaped fingers extending rearwardly andupwardly from opposite sides of the top edge thereof, said body having atongue extending forwardly from said top edge thereof between saidfingers at right angles to said body, said body having a lip extendingforwardly from the bottom edge thereof at right angles thereto, saidtongue and said lip having substantially the same dimensions and beingmutually in vertical alignment, said tongue and said lip each having arectangular hole therethrough, at least the forward edges and the sideedges of said rectangular holes lying in common vertical planes, atleast said rectangular hole in said lip being square in outline, saidhanger member having depending vertical means at the rear end thereof,said means being square in cross-section complementary to said squarehole in said lip and registering releasably in said rectangular holes,the portions of said fingers which extend rearward as aforesaid having alength sub stantially equal to the thickness of said panel, said fingersbeing spaced apart a distance equal to the horizontal distance betweentwo holes in the panel, said fingers being insertible in said last-namedtwo holes with said rearwardly extending portions thereof positioned inthe holes and the upwardly extending portions thereof engaging the backWall of the panel.

2. A support according to claim 1, said rectangular hole in said tonguehaving a length inward from said forward edge slightly greater than theequivalent length of said rectangular hole in said lip.

3. A support according to claim 2, said hanger member comprising a hookhaving an elongated shank, said vertical depending means comprising adownwardly extending deformation of said shank.

4. A support according to claim 1, said hanger member comprising anelongated shank and a downwardly and rearwardly extending brace lying inthe vertical plane of the shank and having the forward end thereofsecured to the underside of the shank, said vertical depending meanscomprising in part a downwardly extending deformation on said shankregistering releasably in said hole in said tongue and in part adownwardly extending deformation on said brace registering releasably insaid hole in said lip.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,797,817 7/1957Shugarman 21 196 2,842,264 7/ 1958 Larson 206-65 2,926,877 3/1960 Levy248-223 3,250,235 5/1966 McDonnell l0852 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A SUPPORT ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON AN UPRIGHT PANEL HAVING AMULTIPLICITY OF EQUIDISTANTLY HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY SPACED ROWSAND COLUMNS OF HOLES THERETHROUGH, SAID SUPPORT CONSISTING OF A BASE ANDA SEPARABLE FORWARDLY EXTENDING HANGER MEMBER, SAID BASE COMPRISING AFLAT VERTICAL BODY ADAPTED TO LIE FLUSH AGAINST THE FRONT SURFACE OFSAID PANEL, SIAD BODY HAVING L-SHAPED FINGERS EXTENDING REARWARDLY ANDUPWARDLY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TOP EDGE THEREOF, SAID BODY HAVIN GA TONGUE EXTENDING FOWARDLY FROM SAID TOP EDGE THEREOF BETWEEN SAIDFINGERS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID BODY, SAID BODY HAVING A LIP EXTENDINGFORWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM EDGE THEREOF AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAIDTONGUE AND SAID LIP HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DIMENSIONS AND BEINGMUTUALLY IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT, SAID TONGUE AND SAID LIP EACH HAVING ARECTANGULAR HOLE THERETHROUGH, AT LEAST THE FORWARD EDGES AND THE SIDEEDGES OF SAID RECTANGULAR HOLES LYING IN COMMON VERTICAL PLANES, ATLEAST SAID RECTANGULAR HOLE IN SAID LIP BEING SQUARE IN OUTLINE, SAIDHANGLER MEMBER HAVING DEPENDING VERTICAL MEANS AT THE REAR END THEREOF,SAID MEANS BEING SQUARE IN OUTLINE, SAID HANGER MEMBER HAVSAID SQUAREHOLE IN SAID LIP AND REGISTERING RELEASABLY IN SAID RECTANGULAR HOLES,THE PORTIONS OF SAID FINGERS WHICH EXTEND REARWARD AFORESAID HAVING ALENGHT SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE THICKNESS OF SAID PANEL, SAID FINGERSBEING SPACED APART A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE BETWEENTWO HOLES IN THE PANEL, SAID FINGERS BEING INSERTIBLE IN SAID LAST-NAMEDTWO HOLES WITH SAID REARWARDLY EXTENDING PORTIONS THEREOF POSITIONED INTHE HOLES AND THE UPWARDLY EXTENDING PORTIONS TH EREOF ENGAGING THE BACKWALL OF THE PANEL.